IÂ’m glad to see that this guy has been indicted. What a piece of work!

Following a three-year investigation, the former president of Houston's largest Teamsters local was arrested Friday on charges of rigging a union election and accepting a $20,000 kickback from a union vendor.

Chuck Crawley, 56, who lost control of Local 988 in 2003 after an investigation into corruption allegations by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was released on a $100,000 bond after posting a $5,000 cash bail.

Crawley gained national attention that year when it was learned he used nonunion labor to build the local's $1.7 million union hall, causing international President James P. Hoffa to cancel his appearance at the opening.

An indictment unsealed Friday accuses Crawley of using the mail to cast 362 phony ballots in the name of union members he thought would not be voting in a 2002 union election.

He also is accused of rigging the vote to get himself re-elected, using the union's computer system to generate fraudulent ballots, of accepting a $20,000 kickback from the company that installed the union's telephone system, and making false entries in union records about the telephone installation.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on one count of wire fraud, five years on each of two counts of embezzlement, and fines of $250,000 on each of the three counts.

This guy also used union money to sue two union members who went to the FBI to report his corruption.

It is cases like this that make me glad that I live in a right-to-work state, where I cannot be forced to give money to corrupt union bosses like Chuck Crawley. I hope he goes away for a long time – and that the members of his union realize that he is just the tip of the iceberg of corruption the historically corrupt Teamsters union.

Posted by: Greg at 04:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 320 words, total size 2 kb.